


An Act of Service

by lillupon



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, M/M, Minor Character Death, POV Outsider, POV Uther Pendragon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:24:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillupon/pseuds/lillupon
Summary: In which Uther sees more of his son than he cares to.a kinksofcamelot fill for the prompt: "Uther walks in on Arthur getting an eager mouthful of Merlin's cock."





	An Act of Service

Uther sweeps through the halls in the direction of Arthur's chambers. For the past three weeks, Arthur has been late to every council session. Last day, he failed to show up at all. Such behaviour cannot be allowed again. Already Uther has allowed it to go on for too long. It is not his job to make sure Arthur is on time; that responsibility falls on Merlin. He'll have Merlin thrown in the stocks for his incompetence, since Arthur seems to have no intention of ever punishing his manservant, conveniently looking the other way when Merlin does something idiotic, or letting him off with a smack to the head.

Uther throws open the doors. "Arthur—" he snarls. 

The words die on his tongue.

Merlin is naked, lying on his back with an equally naked Arthur between his legs. Arthur drags his lips down Merlin's chest, pausing to close his lips over a nipple and suckle from it as though it were a woman's teat. Merlin moans softly, arching into the sensation and letting his head fall back. His hands reach for Arthur, fingers tangling into his hair. 

They’re so absorbed in each other that they don't notice him.

Arthur pulls off to continue pressing kisses down Merlin's belly. He reaches Merlin's cock and swallows him down to the hilt without preamble. Merlin cries out, jolting bodily off the bed. "No, Arthur, no more. I can't—please..." he begs, voice wrecked.

Arthur pulls off just enough to say, "Shh, you can. I know you can."

Instead of making his presence known, Uther surprises himself by backing out of the room and closing the door behind him. His stomach rolls with nausea. He doesn't consider himself a prude, but he would have preferred to be spared from the sight of his son having sex.

*

It's not the fact that Arthur is bedding his servant that bothers Uther. He was young, once, and even as an older man now, he still has needs. He knows the temptation serving girls make, with their soft 'my lord's' and downcast eyes. He knows of the heady rush of power when they easily fall into bed with him.

But Merlin is a man. He lacks all the snug curves of a woman's body, and he is hardly submissive. Uther has heard him call Arthur by his first name as though they were equals, and he says 'my lord' with none of the respect a crown prince should demand. There is nothing alluring about that. Merlin is gormless and incompetent and rude and Arthur, for some unfathomable reason, does not rid of him the way Uther would.

But what bothers Uther above all is that Arthur would service Merlin with his mouth; that Arthur would lower himself before a man and engage in such a debasing act. Even Uther, as much as he loved his wife, would not do this for Ygraine. It is not a king's position, to be on their knees and receive nothing in return. Arthur had grown up spoiled and privileged, accustomed to others tripping over themselves to please him, as all princes are wont to be. To see Arthur put another man's pleasure before his own... Uther cannot understand it. What reward was there to be had in that?

Uther sits upon his throne, an elbow on the armrest and chin cradled in his palm, and ponders this. He listens with half an ear to the disputes two peasants have regarding their land.

Arthur did not look as though he had been forced into performing the act. His son had kissed his way down Merlin's stomach before he lovingly, and without hesitation, took Merlin's cock into his mouth. Arthur had done this many times before, and if Merlin's pained and breathless whimpers of 'No, Arthur, no more. I can't—please...' were to be believed, Uther suspects it's not the first time this day Arthur had done so.

He curls his lip. Is this why Arthur has failed to be on time for council as of late? Because he could not get enough of the taste of another man's cock? A king should never arrive before his subjects, but Arthur takes it too far.

One of the peasants take pause at the look on his face. "My lord?" he asks hesitantly.

Uther waves a hand at him to continue. Perhaps he should be grateful there would be no chance of Arthur siring little Pendragon bastards with Merlin to occupy him. But he cannot get it out of his mind, the sight nor the implication of Arthur laying a kiss upon the tip of Merlin's cock before swallowing him down again.

Arthur enters the throne room an hour later, trailed by Merlin. His cheeks are still flushed with sex. His hair sticks up at odd angles from where Merlin's fingers had found purchase in them; and he looks far too happy for a man who has to sit on his arse for hours and listen to his peoples' endless complaints. Uther grimaces. Why Merlin has seen it fit to allow Arthur in public looking so debauched, he will never know. Merlin is not much more presentable himself, his neckerchief askew to draw attention to the lovebite on his throat. As though noticing his stare, Merlin ducks his head and readjusts his kerchief.

"You are late, Arthur," Uther says under his breath as Arthur takes a seat beside him. "Assure that it does not happen again."

"Yes, Father," Arthur says, utterly unconvincing because he looks to Merlin as he does so.

It makes sense now, why Arthur had expressed not even the slightest of interests in visiting princesses ever since Merlin arrived in Camelot. Before, Arthur would spend at least half a day with a princess. Now, he spares them an hour to go riding, and then runs off to spend the remainder of his day with Merlin in the lower town.

He'll have to talk to Arthur about that. One day, Arthur will be married in the interests of the kingdom. He will have to put aside his feelings for Merlin, no matter how strong and deep they run. It will save Arthur heartbreak, to put an end to those feelings now before they develop any further. Already Uther has noticed the changes Merlin has made in his son. Arthur is kinder and more compassionate to those below his station; has taken to calling the household staff by their names when he had never bothered to learn them before. A soft king cannot rule. It worries Uther, the ideas that Merlin might be putting into Arthur's head when they lie together and Arthur has been made agreeable by his orgasm.

Arthur is not even pretending to pay attention. He gazes besottedly at his manservant, who stands near a pillar, chatting with Morgana's serving girl. Uther purses his lips. Perhaps it is not their moments in bed that he should be worrying about.

*

Uther confronts Arthur about his relationship with his manservant over dinner. There’s a space of a few minutes where he can see the colour rising in both Arthur and Merlin’s cheeks. He takes a sip of his goblet as he waits for his son to gather his thoughts. He expects Arthur to grudgingly fold to his will, as he does in all things. He will bear his son’s resentment as all parents do for their children, knowing their child will thank them for it in the future when they are older and wiser and understand the sacrifices that have to be made.

What he does not expect is for Arthur to renounce his right to the throne. Merlin fumbles a plate and it goes clattering to the stone floor. Its metallic rattle echoes through the room. He looks to Arthur with wide, rounded eyes, as surprised as Uther to know the extent of Arthur’s devotion.

“Arthur—” Merlin starts.

Arthur raises a hand and Merlin falls quiet, though he still stands there agape. 

“You have always told me, Father, that to be a king is to be lonely,” Arthur says. “But I cannot rule as you have. I will rule with Merlin at my side, or not at all.”

Merlin makes a small noise in the back of his throat. The shock on his face melts into wonder. He gazes at Arthur like he is the sun and the moon and the stars, like Arthur is the axis upon which the world revolves. 

“You would throw away everything I have ever worked for,” Uther says, “for a serving boy?”

“I love him, Father,” Arthur says, eyes flickering to Merlin. Uncertain, as though this sentiment has never been voiced before. Uther bites back a groan. Idiot boy is willing to give up the Pendragon legacy for a manservant he only just now found his courage to admit his love for. What a fool Arthur would have made of himself, if Merlin did not feel the same way. 

Uther must be growing soft in his old age. He doesn’t immediately banish Merlin for leading Arthur astray as he might have done in the past. Instead, he heaves a sigh and leans back in his seat. “You are young yet, Arthur. A month from now, your attention will be captured by a younger, more beautiful serving girl. What you feel for Merlin now will be insignificant then.”

*

Years later, Uther lies upon his bed, dying from a mortal wound meant for his son; through a distant haze, he is aware of Arthur at his side, Merlin’s hand clutched in his own, and he realises how wrong he was. 


End file.
